By Rob Sheffield
Rolling Stone
updated 12:00 p.m. ET May 7, 2010
Ever since Britney Spears' demo version of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" leaked this week, fans have been buzzing. Producer Rodney Jerkins quickly confirmed that it really was Britney singing, but any seasoned Britneyologist could already identify it by ear within a couple of bars — nobody else pronounces the consonant "r" or the long vowel "e" like our girl. It has all the distinctive vocal tics of Britney, or at least the laptop that does her singing.
At this point, I've come to love Britney's demo even more than Gaga's already-brilliant hit version. Even though it's a more bare-bones production, it amps up all the seething rage in the song, stripping it down to the killer combo of a plucked harp and a jaded party girl strung out on Auto-Tune and paranoia.
"Telephone" actually sounds a lot like Britney's 2007 hit "iece of Me," proving yet again how much impact Britney has had on the sonics of current pop. People love to make fun of Britney, and why not, but if "Telephone" proves anything, it's that Blackout may be the most influential pop album of the past five years. The demo is lighter than Gaga's production, cutting out all the rock bombast, but that just makes the song more linear and urgent. It reduces "Telephone" to a drum machine, that harp, a magic box of vocal effects, and the concept that a girl's soul and a magic box of vocal effects can sometimes be the exact same thing.
Britney uses Auto-Tune the way Bob Dylan used his harmonica — for punctuation, for atmosphere, for an alienatingly weird sound effect. It's a blast of vocal distortion, harsh on the surface, but expressive, capable of sounding wildly funny or abrasively pissed-off or seductive. In "Telephone," as in "iece of Me," the Auto-Tune does for her voice what the harmonica does for Dylan's in "It Ain't Me, Babe" — a way of telling the world to keep its hands off you. Britney is talking to her phone, talking to the boy who keeps calling, talking herself out of compulsively checking her phone. The way her voice fades in and out of Auto-Tune — mostly in — is totally brilliant. Like Bob Dylan (and I swear this is the last time I'll mention his name right now, despite the millions of things he and Brit have in common) Britney loves to cross-fade between a human voice (hey world, take a look at me, I'm a star, I'm somebody, pay attention) and a machine voice (hey world, kungfu off, you can't reach me, I don't believe you, you're a liar).
hanya tone-deaf people je yang akan cakap britney hideous auto-toned mess version lagi BAGUS dari lady gaga..i mean who are we kidding..?
plain delusional..!
"Telephone" actually sounds a lot like Britney's 2007 hit " Piece of Me," proving yet again how much impact Britney has had on the sonics of current pop.
This DEMO create so many buzz, debate & discussion all over internet...It's Britney, b*tch!!
Few days back, MTV released a photo of Britney on the set of Telephone video...lol...gigih sungguh MTV ni..look like everyone really love and adore Britney's Telephone..
To add yet another genre into the already overcrowded mix for the newBritney Spears album, it looks like the Queen B could be playing aroundwith some alternative sounds after the music publisher of Estonian popsinger Kerli let the news slip during a live chat on Kyte TV yesterday.
When asked about the direction of Kerli’s upcoming sophomore album, themusic publisher said that Britney is making a dance record and thatshe’s actually heard several of the tracks that are being consideredfor Britney to record. She then described them as being “veryelectronic” and “kind of alternative”, adding that they’re “verydifferent” from anything Britney has done before.
Fitting in with the alternative theme is news that Britney is workingwith producer Rusko, who is responsible for the new M.I.A. single“XXXO”.
Earlier last week Britney’s management released a statement regardingher relationship with her agent/boyfriend Jason Trawick, mentioningthat the singer has been “busy in the studio working on her next album”.
Very exciting stuff. Perhaps we can get another “And Then We Kiss”, asong that is one of the most underrated and brilliant of Spears career.Thanks to Ethan for this news.
Jim Beanz Talks Britney, Katy & Timbaland
He’s a massive producer, so we had to bag a chat…
17:09, Thursday, 13 May 2010
Producer Jim Beanz is one of the hottest knob twiddlers around atthe moment thanks to his work with Timbaland. As a protégé of Timbohe’s assisted on loads of massive tracks.
And recently he produced If We Ever Meet Again for his mate and vocalist Katy Perry. In fact Jim is such a music industry mover-and-shaker that he even persuaded Britney Spears to say a rude word on record.
We caught up with him when he was on our shores…
MTV: Hi Jim, What are you over in the UK for?
Since the success of 'If We Ever Meet Again'- which is Timbalandfeaturing Katy Perry- I came over to do some press and meet up with afew different artists that I have worked with in the past and plan onworking more on in the future.
I have worked with Lemar and Craig David, I have also started workingwith Jesse Jay who is signed to Universal and I’ve also met up withAlicia Dixon’s people.
Could you see yourself signing any UK acts? Have you heard anyone you like?
Definitely, If I meet the right one. Someone who is different, special,new and can bring something fresh to the music industry.
Do you find a big difference between music in the UK and US at the moment?
Nowadays I think music is definitely taking one trend. That’s why a lotmore UK acts are coming over to the US and doing well at the moment. Agood example of this is how JLS are doing really well in the States atthe moment.
How did you get started and what would you credit as your big break?
I got started years ago in a group called Tresane, we were signed toJaz from Dru Hill. When the group broke up I moved to the writing andproduction side of things. I met Timbaland about seven years back andthe first project we worked on together was the Nelly Furtado Loosealbum, and that was my big break.
You wrote a Euro-vision winning song- how did that come about and what makes a good Eurovision track?
I was in Miami working on the Pussy Cat Dolls and Chris Cornell, I haddouble sessions each day. I had already worked with the winner, who isa Russian artist named Dima Bilan in the past. He called my managementand really wanted to get in the studio with me. He really wanted tocompete in the contest.
I went into the studio and wrote the song in an hour, honestly! and didthe music within that hour! The crazy part about it was, as far aswriting the song, the only thing I kept thinking was every word in thissong has to be something that someone from another language or countryhas to be able to understand. The first song that popped into my headwas I Believe I Can Fly. I think in general songs that people gravitatetowards are the ones that are easiest to remember. I think that is thereason why 'If We Ever Meet Again' did so well on the radio over here.
Explain how you got Britney to utter the phrase ‘it’s Britney bitch!’and tell us What was she like to work with at that time?
She was amazing to work with, she is a very hardworker. Just as hard as she works on her dance steps she is the exactsame in the booth. She was basically open to any and everything that Imentioned. The phrase came last minute right at the end of the session.We recorded that while she was pregnant with her second child. It wasreally difficult to try to make her sound really sexy an at the sametime she was pregnant. We knew that as soon as she had the baby she wasthe one to be able to push that song. We needed that one catch phraseto really bring her back and put her stamp on the industry and thatstamp was 'It's Britney Bitch'
Why has Timbaland let other producers make his Shock Value 2 tracks?
Timbaland doesn't let other people make the tracks. Timbaland overseeseverything, he will start the tracks off and other producers will comein and add instruments here or there, just like any other producer. Alot of people think that Timbaland lets other people make the music butthat is not true, Timbaland oversees everything he does.
Is Timbo a fan of European sounding dance music?
He’s a fan of anything that is music, he is a genius. He always thinksoutside the box, he has a way of taking sounds and making them worktogether.
Am I right in thinking you’ve been working on the new Katy Perry album?
Since 'If We Ever Meet Again' we were supposed to work together but I haven’t had a chance to as of yet.
How can Katy follow up such massive tracks from her last album?
Can she follow up her success? Hell Yeah, Katy Perry is an amazingartist and writer. She is so edgy and is not afraid to push theenvelope. Artists like that are the ones are the ones that never losetheir steam.
Who else have you been in the studio with?
Lately, JoJo, Timbaland for the Rihanna sessions, a few sessions with Danja Handz.
How are the Rhianna sessions for the new album going?
They are going amazingly. Her new album is going to be crazy. It couldbe one of the best things I have ever worked on. I always try to out domyself every time, I never try to go backwards. I will say though thetracks I have worked on with Timbaland for Rihanna have been amazing,Timbaland has always been the one to re-invent himself and at themoment he is really on some fast-forward sh*t, he is really going tokill the game with the stuff he is working on now
Are you going to release solo material like Timbaland?
Only God knows what the future holds. Artist wise I never wanted toreally be an artist, I do sing on a lot of things everything fromBritney Spears songs to Nelly Furtado songs to Diddy material.
Q: Who else have you worked with recently? And who's coming up?
A: I've recently worked with Adele, Tiesto, Natasha Bedingfield, JamesMorrison, Keri Hilson and T.I. I also have singles coming out thissummer with a bunch of new artists. Coming up, I'll be working withKelly Clarkson, Brit (Spears), Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum and some others. http://www.denverpost.com/entertainm...064?source=pkg
Oh no!!! This will be a MASTERPIECE!!!
Can't wait for Tedder's song for Britney...I hope it will be a beautiful ballad like Halo...
Post time 5-5-2010 01:19 AM
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